One Night in July
by Schnabeltiermann
Summary: "I listened intently as I snuck down the stairs, being careful not to step on the bottom step because it creaked. Now that I was on the same floor as the trespassers, I had to be really careful."
1. Who's There?

**Author's Note: This is my first ****fan-fiction piece, and I honestly do not plan to these things regularly. ****I only posted this because I actually did this for school. In my AP Literature class, we had to write a "Famous Beginning," meaning just write the first page of a book. I edited it slightly to be more obviously Phineas & Ferb related, but it is almost identical.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Phineas nor do I own Ferb. Dan Povenmire, Jeff Marsh, and Disney do.  
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><p>Waking with a start, I fell out of bed and onto the wooden floor. As I stood up wearily, I could not remember to what I had awoken. Was it a car? Was it a dream? Did Perry knock something down again? Then I heard it again, and it was none of the above; I could hear not-so-subtle footsteps moving around downstairs.<p>

I knew a neighbor of mine, Ms. Marsh, had been robbed a few days ago. Luckily, they only had time to steal an address book. (Ms. Marsh is both a light sleeper and a gun owner, so those criminals were out of her house pretty quick).

Then I realized something. I was listed in Ms. Marsh's address book as the head of the Neighborhood Watch. That had to be it. The robbers wanted to attack where it hurt the most. Steal from the head of the Neighborhood Watch and one could strike fear into the hearts of the whole neighborhood.

I was not about to let those thugs come into my town and terrorize my friends. With a TASER in one hand and a baseball bat in the other, I crept out of my bedroom and into the hallway. I listened intently as I snuck down the stairs, being careful not to step on the bottom step (it creaked). Now that I was on the same floor as the trespassers, I had to be really careful. Ms. Logan said she saw two people running from her house. I could easily handle two average criminals if necessary, so long as they thought I was still asleep.

I took another moment to listen for any movement, and I realized two things at once: first of all, there was only one set of footsteps, not several. Second, they were quiet footsteps, but they were not sneaky, they were just _light_. This did not add up. Who would be stupid enough to burglarize someone's house by themselves? Whoever they were, they did not sound like professionals. The way they were rummaging through my cupboards- I stopped short. I smelled coffee. How cocky was this person?

I wheeled around as I heard a soft chirping sound coming from the room behind me. It was my pet platypus, Perry. He was awake and completely aware of someone being in the house, and he was not doing anything. Not that I was surprised; that platypuses never did do much, especially at his age, but still, he did not look concerned at all. That could mean only one thing; he knew the person who had broken into my house.

Perry walked around me, heading towards the kitchen. It almost seemed like he was motioning for me to come with him. Still ready to fight, I hesitantly followed Perry. As I rounded the corner, I froze. None of my thoughts could have prepared me for what, or should I say _who_, I saw. Sitting in a chair, looking into my eyes while calmly sipping coffee, was a long lost childhood friend, the girl from across the street.

"Isabella?" I asked, completely bewildered.

She responded simply, "Hey Phineas, _whatcha doin'_?"

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><p><strong>Author's Note: Thank you for reading everyone! Tell me what you think!<strong>


	2. One Morning in July

**Author's Note: ****Great news! Even though this started as a school assignment, I decided to continue this story! **

**Just to answer chibi-chan 2013's ****question: I don't want come out and say what age I think they are. As you'll see when you read, this chapter has a flashback. Phineas and Ferb are graduating early, so the whole gang is about seventeen in the flashback. Chapter 3 ****will reveal how much time has passed between the flashback and when Isabella "broke into" Phineas's house. I'll just let people do the math from there.  
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**Disclaimer: I don't own Phineas & Ferb. _Or do I?_ Nope. Disney does.**

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><p>"<em>Isabella<em>?" I asked again, still in shock.

"Yes, I'm Isabella, and you're Phineas," she answered a little more sarcastically, "So Phineas, _whatcha doin'?_"

"No, I know you're you, it's just- wait a minute! What do you mean, 'what am _I_ doing?' I'm not the one who broke into my house! I mean… I suppose I'd have to break into someone else's hous… umm… uhh," I started to stumble over my words as my brain tried to process this situation.

"You're not good with being woken up in the middle of the night, are you?" she teased.

I let out a sigh, "No, no I'm not."

She chuckled a little, "Oh well. Besides, I didn't break in. See? Your windows and doors are still in one piece."

I noticed she was right, so I asked, "Did you pick the lock?"

"No"

"Did you crawl in through the platypus door?"

"No. Why on Earth would I do that?"

"Did you crawl down the chimney?"

"You don't _have _a chimney, Phineas."

I decided I would be easier just to ask: "Well then, how _did_ you get into my house?"

"I teleported here," she said like the answer was obvious.

I gave her a blank stare. "That's interesting… but where would you get a teleport? Last I checked, only Ferb and I knew how to build that kind of stuff. I didn't build you one, which leaves Ferb. Now why would he-"

"Actually Phineas," she interrupted, "You did build this teleport. Remember these?" She picked two ceramic turtle doves up off of the table. I hadn't noticed them up to this point, but as soon as she showed them to me, I remembered.

I slapped my forehead with sudden realization, "Oh, I remember that day."

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><p><em>Flashback (Phineas's POV)<em>

_It was an early morning in July. Ferb and I, as we had done since we were ten, were sitting under the tree in our back yard. Isabella, Baljeet, and Buford had joined us that morning to decide what to do. "So Ferb, what do you want to do today?" I asked, "I mean… we can't _not_ do something. This is our last summer before college, and we need to make sure every day is the best day ever!"_

_Isabella sighed, "I still wish you guys hadn't chosen to graduate a whole year earlier than the rest of us. Not only that, but you'll start college as sophomores!"_

"_I ain't happy about it either." Buford added, "Not that I'll miss ya or anything, but I always thought being friends with high school grads would mean having an awesome grad party."_

_I looked towards him, "If you hadn't noticed, Mom and Dad threw a great party for Ferb and I the day after we graduated."_

_Baljeet piped up. "No offense to your parents, but even _I_ thought that party was lame."_

_Isabella elbowed him in the side and gave him a glare. Then she sweetly said, "I think what Baljeet is trying to say is that as much as we all enjoyed your parents' party, we'd like it if you guys had another party. Y'know, one with a little 'Phineas and Ferb pizzazz'."_

_Ferb and I looked at each other excitedly. Yep, we were thinking the exact same thing. "Ferb, I know what we're going to do today. We're going to throw the greatest grad party ever!" Everyone cheered. "Let's see, we're going to need some invitations, a cake, a disco ball, an atomic chocolate fountain, and a building in which to put it all."_

"_What can we do to help?" asked Isabella._

_I thought for a while, "Hmm, I know! Isabella, you and the Fireside Girls are in charge food. Baljeet and Buford, you two can make invitations. Ferb and I will take care of the rest. Everyone meet at the park by five o'clock." Isabella, Baljeet, and Buford ran off to get ready for the party. "Alright Ferb, what kind of building should we make?" I looked around quickly, "Hey, where's Perry?"_

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><p><strong>Author's Note: Please review. I just started a 5 day weekend, so I should be able to spend some time on this story and update it within the next two days.<em><br>_**


	3. Doofenshmirtz's Vegetable Store

**Author's Note: As I've said in previous Author's Notes, I wrote the first chapter for a school project, and it was meant to stand on its own. Because of that, I've been making up the rest as I go along. After writing this chapter, however, I decided to plan the rest of the story. So now I know how I want the story to end, and that is going to take another chapter or two.**

**But for now, enjoy a chapter devoted to Perry!**

**Disclaimer: Why am I writing on this website while Dan and Swampy make a lot of money? Because they own Phineas & Ferb, I don't.**

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><p>"Phineas… <em>Phineas<em>… PHINEAS!" screamed Isabella.

"Huh? What?" I asked as I snapped out of my flashback.

"You were spaced out for a whole ten minutes; I was getting concerned," she said worriedly, "What were you doing, remembering the whole day?"

"Yeah," I said sheepishly.

"Look," she said, "We don't have all night, so just skip ahead to the party, before the building disappeared."

I gave in. "Alright Isabella. But I still wonder where that thing went. Any ideas?"

She shook her head. "Phineas, it's been an entire year. I don't think we need to worry about it. Especially since almost every single one of your and Ferb's inventions seemed to disappear daily. It would have been weirder if it had stayed."

"I suppose you're right Isabella."

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><p>(3rd person POV)<p>

Unbeknownst to them, Perry had been listening the whole time, and he knew exactly where their building had gone.

He began to stare off into space as he remembered that day.

_Flashback (3__rd__ person POV)_

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><p><em>Phineas looked around and asked, "Hey, where's Perry?"<em>

_Up in Phineas's and Ferb's room, Perry donned his fedora, and went into the boys' closet. Reaching behind a pile of old Christmas sweaters, he located a button to activate one of his many lair entrances. After sliding down, he could see Major Monogram and Carl arguing about something Agent P assumed was important._

_He heard Major Monogram yell, "Carl, you bought the wrong soap again. Now my hands smell like petunias! I'm glad the agency started paying you, because now I can threaten to fire you."Agent P assumed wrong. Deciding that this situation was not life or death, he chirped a little to get Major Monogram's attention._

_Major Monogram turned towards the screen. Realizing Agent P was there, he began to give him his mission. "Agent P, Doctor Doofenshmirtz just purchased an old candy store downtown. He must be planning to do something evil with it, like turning it into a vegetable store or something. We need you to go there and put a stop to it. Monogram out." Agent P saluted and ran off. "Carl, I want you to go back to the store to buy regular, unscented soap right now."_

_Using his jetpack, Agent P quickly found his way to Doctor Doofenshmirtz's new store. As he approached, he heard a familiar jingle._

Doofenshmirtz Evil Vegetables!

_Agent P landed on top of the building and snuck in through the air vents. After landing in what looked like an aisle of Brussels sprouts, a vegetable crate fell from the shelf and trapped him. Then he heard an all-too-familiar voice. "Are you okay mister?" asked Doctor Doofenshmirtz as he walked around a corner, "I was just stacking these crates when I accidentally pushed a few- PERRY THE PLATYPUS! What are you doing here? Did you come to buy some vegetables?"_

_Agent P just stared at Doctor Doofenshmirtz._

"_It looks like you've been trapped by this vegetable crate, which was obviously my plan all along, so I'm going to tell you my evil scheme."_

_Agent P took a seat in the crate, waiting for yet another tragic back-story._

"_Back in __Gimmelshtump__, my mother would always make me eat my vegetables. And then, when she wasn't looking, Robert would put his vegetables on my plate too. Then I would have to eat those vegetables! It was horrible, so now I'm going to make all of the children of the Tri-state area eat their vegetables. Then they'll get so depressed, that when they grow up, they will be too sad to stop me from taking over the ENTIRE TRI-STATE AREA!"_

_Agent P just rolled his eyes._

"_I know what you're thinking. 'How is buying an old candy store and turning it into a vegetable store going to make children eat vegetables?' But that is only part of the plan! Behold: the Teleport-to-the-roof-of-my-vegetable-store-inator! With this device, I will be able to shoot anyone who walks past my store. Then, they will be teleported to the roof, where they will be forced to walk down the stairs, and into my store. Hopefully, once they're in here, they'll be more willing to buy my stuff. If they don't, I'll keep teleporting them to the roof until they do. I am such an evil genius!" After telling Agent P his plan, Doctor Doofenshmirtz yawned. "That tirade made me tired."_

_Agent P let out a sigh. Sadly, this was one of Doctor Doofenshmirtz's best schemes in a long time. Then he yawned too._

**EIGHT HOURS LATER:**

"_Wow," said Doctor Doofenshmirtz as he sat up and stretched, "Look at the time; it's already nine o'clock. The sun is beginning to set. What did I do: fall asleep in the middle of my back-story?"_

_Agent P nodded. He had apparently fallen asleep too. He was glad he was going to retire at the end of the year._

"_I'm getting to old for this," Doctor Doofenshmirtz started to say, "Wait a second. I just realized something! People have been walking right past my store all day. I guess I'd better fire thi-" _

_He was interrupted by a swift punch in the face. Agent P had escaped._

"_Perry the Platypus, how did you escape?" He looked over at the crate. "I guess I should have put something on top of that to weight it down."_

_Agent P proceeded to beat him up while he tried to fire his inator. Finally, Doctor Doofenshmirtz grabbed his remote and pushed a button. Knowing there was little time, Agent P roundhouse kicked the inator just as it fired, causing the ray to fly off in the distance. The inator fell down, exploding as it hit the ground. Agent P figured that was a good time to leave._

_Doctor Doofenshmirtz was not happy. "Curse you Perry the Platypus!" Then he heard a cracking sound coming from the roof. "What is happening?"he wondered. It looked like the roof was starting to collapse. "That can't be good." He ran outside to see what was causing the roof to cave in._

_He saw that an absolutely huge, magnificent building was now sitting on top of his vegetable store. "Maybe I shou-" He didn't get a chance to say any more as both buildings fell apart, leaving only a pile of rubble in their place._

"_Hmm," Doctor Doofenshmirtz mused, "I know I already said this, but Curse you Perry the Platypus!_

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><p><strong>Author's Note: Please review, and look for the next chapter within the next two days!<strong>


	4. The Turtle Doves

**Author's Note: This is the chapter where we learn about the turtle doves that started this whole story. Also, I plan on writing one more chapter after this. Have fun reading!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Phineas nor Ferb nor Isabella, nor the 'Home Alone' Movie Series, etc.  
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><p>Perry smiled as he remembered that day in July. He then looked over at Phineas and Isabella to learn what they had done during the party.<p>

"Phineas," Isabella said, "Are you remembering what happened at the party, or are you still trying to remember the entire day?"

"Hold on a second, Isabella" Phineas said, "In my flashback I just finished lunch."

She sighed. "I guess _I'll_ have to have the flashback."

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><p><em>Flashback (Isabella's POV)<em>

_The Fireside Girls and I were hanging out at Phineas's and Ferb's grad party, having a good time. Phineas had gone all out on the party and the atomic chocolate fountain was a huge success. The only bad part was the music. After the DJ we had hired got booed off stage, Ferb decided to take over. I had asked him to keep an eye on Phineas and me so that when I gave the signal, he would play a slower song for us. _

_I was nervous. Several girls had spent the night trying to talk to Phineas, and he had actually danced with a few of them just to be nice. I couldn't understand it; it seemed like the only girl he was still oblivious to was me! I had always hoped he'd get a clue, but we were still 'just friends.' I didn't want to be 'just friends,' I wanted us to date, and fall in love, and get married, and start a family together!_

_But I refused to get discouraged. Every time Phineas danced with a girl, Ferb would play a really fast song so they'd dance together, but not 'together-together.' I'd have to thank him for that later._

_Besides, if he was noticing other girls, I could get him to notice me as well. With the help of the Fireside Girls, I had dressed up as nicely as I could. I was wearing a modest but elegant pink dress, and I had spent hours curling my hair. I also had put on fine makeup and various pieces of jewelry. "This is the night," I whispered to myself. I took a deep breath, and started towards him._

_As I approached him, he noticed me. He seemed a little hesitant as I came closer. It looked like he was messing with a little box in his hand. Deciding to make him do some of the work, I sat down at a nearby table and motioned for him to join me._

_After what seemed like forever, he sat down with me. I was the first to speak. "Cool party Phineas."_

_He smiled at me. Then he said, "Thanks Isabella, but I have to tell you something." I could see a hint of concern in his eyes. "As Ferb and I were building today, we realized that we'd be leaving a lot of people behind. We're not happy about it, and we wish we could stay, but we know it's too late for that."_

"_Phineas-" I began to say._

"_Hold on Isabella, Ferb told me that out of all of the people who are going to miss us, you're going to miss us the most. Ferb actually said you'd miss _me _the most, but I'll assume he meant you'll miss both of us. Anyway… I decided to get you something."_

_My heart leapt with joy as he gave me the box he had been holding. I was a little annoyed that he misunderstood Ferb, but I couldn't be mad at him._

_Then Phineas cleared his throat, "Umm, Isabella? Are you going to open it?"_

_I smiled_. _"Relax, I'm opening it." I opened the box and saw two small ceramic turtle doves. "Phineas, what are these?" I asked._

"_Those are turtle doves," he said, "I got the idea when Ferb and I watched __Home Alone 2__ last night. See, one of the doves is for me, and the other is for you. As long as each of us has our turtle dove, we'll be friends forever."_

"_Oh Phineas, that's so sweet," I said as tears of joy formed in my eyes._

_Phineas started speaking again. "Plus, each turtle doves' head opens up, revealing a button. When you press it, you will be teleported to the other turtle dove. That way we can see each other whenever we want!"_

"_Thank you, Phineas," I said. We both stood up and I hugged him. Figuring it was now or never, I asked, "Phineas, would you like to dance?"_

_He seemed a little taken aback. "Well… I-I-uhh," he stuttered._

_Then Ferb spoke. "Good evening ladies and gentlemen. We're going to slow things down now, so grab that special someone and hold them close for this next number."_

"_Phineas, will you dance with me?" I asked again._

_Phineas took a deep breath and composed himself. "Isabella, I wou-"_

_Suddenly, the entire building seemed to vaporize. Everything that was built into the building, including the sound system and the food tables, disappeared too._

"_Too bad," said Phineas, "I guess we can't dance without music. See you tomorrow Isabella." Then he ran off._

"_Dang it!" I exclaimed._

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><p><strong>Author's Note: Review please! Expect the last chapter tomorrow!<strong>

**P.S. Apparently, the horizontal line you can insert within the story counts as three words.**** That means I have at least nine words in this chapter!**_  
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	5. Famous Beginnings

**Author's Note: This is the last chapter to "One Night in July." It's a little short, but I think it wraps up the story nicely. I'd like to thank everyone for reading and reviewing. Five days ago, I had planned to put up the first chapter and stop. Now I'm glad I continued.  
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**I also want to explain how I view Phineas's obliviousness. I don't think he is actually oblivious to love, just oblivious to the fact his best friend (Isabella) could also be his girlfriend, and that's how I tried to portray it in this story.**

**Disclaimer: Phineas and Ferb rule! But I don't own them.**

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><p>"ISABELLA!" screamed Phineas.<p>

Phineas's voice snapped me out of my flashback. "What?"

"I guess it was your turn to space out," he teased, "Were you having a flashback about the turtle doves?"

"Yes," I said, "But I also remember something that I never got an answer to."

"What is it?" Phineas asked, "Because if you're wondering where the building went, we already established that neither of us know."

"It's not that Phineas."

"Then what is it?" he asked. He sounded hesitant.

"Well…" I said, "That party occurred exactly one year ago today. That means that my grad party is tomorrow, and I wanted to know one thing. I wanted to know that one thing so badly, that I teleported into your house in the middle of the night to get the answer."

"What is it you want to know? What brought you here tonight?" he asked, a little more hesitantly.

"Will I be able to dance with the man I love?"

Phineas just looked at me for a few seconds. I had hoped that he would finally realize I was talking about _him_. But then he said, with a shaky voice, "Isabella, I am sure that whoever this guy is, he will be more than willing to dance with you. I don't know why you had to come to me for that answer, just ask him yourself."

I was going to punch him. Punch him right in that big, pointy nose of his. However, I took a deep breath, unclenched my fists, unclenched my teeth, and said, "I just asked _you_, didn't I?"

Phineas refused to make eye contact with me as he sighed. "Isabella, I know I'm the one you want to dance with, but I don't know why I'm the one. I know you think that I'm brave, funny, and optimistic, but I'm not. I get nervous sometimes. In fact, I ran away from you at the party! I couldn't even dance with you without freaking out! I desperately avoided the topic for the rest of the summer! That's not brave, and I'm sure you didn't think it was funny."

"Phineas, that doesn't matter. Everyone gets uncomfortable from time to time. Even you."

"I just cannot see how my best friend, someone who knows all of my faults and mistakes, could love me. That's why I pretended to ignore your flirts throughout high school. I didn't feel good enough for you."

I finally realized that Phineas wasn't really oblivious. He ignored me because he cared about me, and didn't want to ruin anything for me. He just needed a little reassuring that I did love him, faults and all. "Phineas, I love you. I've been in love with you for almost half of my life. Besides, the only fault you have is focusing too much on the little mistakes you make every now and then. You're perfect for me."

Then we heard a man with a British accent speak from the darkened room behind us. Ferb said, "Phineas, the woman is always right in a disagreement, so just say yes." He walked out of the darkness into the kitchen.

"I almost forgot," I said quickly, "I brought Ferb too, just in case we needed a DJ."

He looked at Ferb, and then looked at me, and then looked back at Ferb with a huge smile on his face. "Ferb," he said, "Play something slow." Ferb gave a thumbs up and went over to the stereo. Then he turned to me, held out his hand, and asked, "Isabella, may I have this dance."

I didn't even bother answering. I moved to take his hand, and we danced. At first, we kept a little space between us, but then I tripped on something and fell towards Phineas. He caught me and held me tight. I looked back, and saw that I had tripped on Perry.

Phineas laughed. "I guess even Perry thinks we should be together."

I looked back at Phineas and said, "Yes, yes we should."

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><p><strong>Author's Note: I think I made Phineas a little out of character in this chapter, but I could see him doubting himself if Isabella is involved. This story is done, so please leave a review.<strong>


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